For a recent assignment I was looking for a newspaper or scholarly article dealing with race or gender issues. After a little bit of looking around I found the perfect one. The article "Lego my stereotypes! Blocks aimed at girls raise issues about gender and play" appeared in the Detroit Free Press on February 8th, 2012. In the introduction the author talks about the difficulties he was faced with when shopping for an appropriate Lego set for his daughter. Most of the kits left were geared more towards boys and there were hardly any gender-neutral ones at all. He continues to talk about Lego's newest line called "Lego Friends", which includes kits with slightly larger figures and themes historically more appealing to girls, such as a beauty salon, a cafe, and a bakery.
Lego, which started with mostly gender-neutral items, made the conscious decision to target boys when the company was struggling a few years ago. The introduction of this new line is supposed to recapture the girl's market. The new line has been received with mixed emotions though from scholars and customers; some are embracing the new items, while others criticize Lego for using too many gender stereotypes. The article finishes with a portrait of a Detroit family with three daughters, all Lego enthusiasts. The Jacobs' two older daughters like the more traditional sets, while the youngest of them is more girly and has taken a liking to the new "Lego Friends."
In my opinion this article is a great example illustrating gender stereotypes and companies telling parents what is appropriate for their boys and girls with the types of toys offered. It agrees completely with our class discussion that children receive and are supposed to play with different toys based on their gender and that colors are also gender specific. Girls should play with items that are pink and purple, while boys shouldn't touch these, as they are not 'manly' enough. With this new "Lego Friends" line, Lego emphasizes these stereotypes and pushes the parents to stay within them since not many want to give their boys a girly toy/play kit or give their delicate little girls a toy made for rough and tumble boys.
I think Lego could have taken a better approach to recapture this market segment, by promoting their kits in general as gender-neutral or making the new line less stereotypical. As a child I played with Legos a lot and I had all different kinds of kits. By making ones targeted specifically at females, it limits these young girls to those kits and makes it less appropriate to play with Star Wars or Harry Potter themed kits. Last time I checked though, neither one of those movie franchises only had male fans. Apparently though building them out of Legos, with black, brown, grey and generally dark colored parts, and subsequently playing with them - which might involve simulated fighting - is more appropriate for boys.
I believe parents should pick the kits based on their children's interests, not gender. If the girl likes Star Wars, get her a Star Wars themed kit. If she prefers puppies, get her the new "Lego Friends" puppy house. The same should hold true for boys, but our society still has a long way to go before 'girly' things are acceptable for boys. These decisions regarding toys should not be based on what is appropriate based on a child's gender, but on the child's interests and preferences. I think it's sad when children are forced to play with certain toys their parents pick out for them based on appropriateness. They should be able to figure out on their own what they like and enjoy without having stereotypes forced on them at such a young age.
No comments:
Post a Comment